The filaments of fluoresce lamps are covered with emission mix to facilitate passage of electrons through the gas for production of light. Over time, the emission mix is sputtered off of the filaments in normal operation, particularly when the lamp is ignited with cold cathodes. When the emission mix becomes depleted, the lamp nears end-of-life (“EOL”) and a higher voltage is required for the cathodes to emit electrons. The other filament in the lamp may not have an equally depleted emission mix, therefore, electrons from the good cathode will bombard the depleted filament with electrons, but the depleted filament will require a higher voltage to force the electrons back to the good filament. This higher voltage results in an increase in temperature which may overheat the lamp and in some cases crack the glass if the lamp is not replaced. Program-start ballast systems help extend the fluorescent lamp life by pre-heating the lamp filaments on startup before igniting the lamps, thereby mitigating emission mix depletion. Ballasts have been developed which detect when a fluorescent lamp nears the EOL condition, allowing controlled shutdown for replacement of the EOL lamp. Conventional EOL detection circuits and techniques may suffer from false triggering, particularly for dimming ballasts, whereby a need remains for improved end-of-life protection for fluorescent lamp ballasts.